21st Century Skills

 In PE we spend a lot of time collaborating.  Most of our activities involve partner or group/teamwork.  Without realizing it, we are heading in the right direction in preparing our students for the 21^st Century.  This week I have been exploring the Partnership for 21st Century Skills website.  I think the basic goal of preparing our students for the 21^st Century is to teach them correct principles and let them govern themselves with guidance.  As a part of the Framework for 21^st Century Learning, Mr. Kay and the other team members have a vision for students to learn the essential skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, communication, and collaboration. I do agree with the authors that blending skills is necessary for the 21^st Century learner and this site has a vast amount of information and resources to help us move in that direction. I just love the resource page which provides ideas for educators, policy makers, parents, and community members along with videos and overview materials.   It is fairly easy to navigate, however there is so much information that you can easily move to a different page and “get lost” there.  I found this site informative and interesting and one that I could spend hours absorbing information from.  I look forward to using some of the techniques and ideas in my own classroom.  Take a look at the website and let me know what you think.

Blogging in Physical Education

Between two PE teachers, we see all 980 K5-fifth grade students in our school over the period of one week. It is more beneficial to use our blog to showcase student work such as photos of certain skills and activities.  Our school utilizes Edmodo.com as an educational networking site for students and teachers to communicate and collaborate.  This is where it would be more beneficial for our PE students to interact with one another about content. They actually have some really great conversations about activities, games, and skills that we are learning. However, our class blog will showcase work so that parents, students, and classroom teachers can see what is happening in PE.  Our computer lab instructors can give the students an opportunity to view the blog and make comments.  We would definitely consult some of our students to determine what types of content they would like to see on our blog and may be even give a select group of students access to assist in managing the blog.

Welcome

Welcome to our Physical Education blog.  I am currently working on a Master's in Education Degree with Technology Integration Specialization from Walden University. This is my first blog and it is my goal to enhance our PE classes by integrating technology so jump in and hang on.  I look forward to keeping you up to date with our success as well as learning from any fellow bloggers.